Undusted Texts

  For an introduction to St. Maximus (or what little is known of him), see my translation of Homily 37 , the first homily on the Forty-Day Fast.  Other translations of St. Maximus include Sermon on the Nativity II (Sermon 4) and Sermon on the Epiphany (Sermon 7) .  As in my previous Lenten translation from St. Maximus, paragraph divisions below are my own. Homily XXXVIII On the Forty-Day Fast II Yesterday, preaching the devotion of the Holy Forty Days, we offered the examples of the holy letters, by which we proved that this number of forty is not constituted by men, but divinely consecrated, not found by earthly thought, but a precept of heavenly majesty. And, therefore, he who breaks the constituted number by eating on one day is not accused as a violator of one day, but is charged as the transgressor of the whole Forty Days. Wherefore is it good for man to fast for the aforesaid number, without labor, and to pursue the sanctity of the whole For...

  Introduction Little is known of St. Maximus, besides his writings and the fact that he was Bishop of Turin. It is thought he was a native of Rhaetia, in modern northern Italy, possibly born in the town of Vercelli. Some think he is the same Maximus who attended a few local synods and councils—the Synod of Milan in 451 and the Council of Rome in 465 (thus giving him a much longer life), but there is no certainty. What has truly cemented his legacy is a large collection of homilies and sermons, along with a few treatises. This homily is the first in a series of 8 on "the Forty-Day Fast" ( De jejunio Quadragesimæ ), that is, Lent.  I have previously translated his Sermon on the Nativity II (Sermon 4) , and his Sermon on Epiphany (Sermon 7) .  It should be noted that Maximus' "sermons" and "homilies" are two complete separate sets of writings, with separate numberings.  Paragraph divisions below are my own; the Latin text I used prints the who...